The Power of Visualization

In today’s post, I’m entering an area that can, on the surface, seem a bit “woo woo”. (How did new age-y things ever get that name, anyway?)

I’m exploring the practice of visualization and how it can help us as musicians, students, educators, therapists, and human beings.

First of all, what is visualization? I was first introduced to it as a practice in middle school athletics. We would be on the bus traveling to a football/basketball/wrestling/track event, and our coaches would silence the bus and have us visualize the contest in as much detail as possible.

Sure, imagining yourself winning has some self-esteem boosts associated with it. But it seems that practicing that neural circuitry can actually produce changes in the brain and body that set you up for success.

Fortunately, someone else has already written about some of the scientific studies and has provided some resources, so I’ll let you visit this article for more concrete support. What I’m going to do is explore the practical applications for you and me.

Outside of athletics, you may have experienced visualization from meditation practices or sources like “The Secret”.

This is me visualizing you reading this blog post 🙂

As an aside, I think “The Secret” misses some important points – you can’t just visualize the outcome (although it’s important), you have to see yourself doing the work that begets the outcome.

So as musicians, therapists, educators, and/or students, how can we use visualization to become better at what we do?

How often do you visualize sessions and their desired outcomes?

Here’s a trick: when you’re working on a new song that has some musical challenges, visualize yourself doing it successfully. I’m glad to get reacquainted with this practice, because I fully intend on using it more with my students.

In fact, I’ll be going into greater depth on this topic as it relates to guitar for my Guitar Club members.

We can use this visualization technique in many areas of our lives – fitness goals, habit forming/breaking, relationship goals…

My challenge for you is to try this with a few of your music therapy-related tasks, whether it be a class you’re teaching, a session you’re providing, a test you’re taking, or a professional connection you are making. I’ll be right there along with you practicing this a lot this week.

One thing you want to do is make the visualization as vivid as possible. If you’re learning a song/guitar skill, imagine exactly how you want it to sound, how it feels physically to play it, how it feels emotionally to achieve it, and any other sensory elements that may be present.

Wondering where to start? Here are a few scenarios you can visualize before they happen. Remember, imagine it as if it has already happened and make it as rich as possible.

Interview

Music therapy session

Test

Presentation/lecture

Performance

Funding meeting

Pitch for services

Hot date

Workout

Play session with a child

Vacation you want to take

Place you want to live

Amount you want to donate to a favorite charitable cause

Amount you want to see in your retirement account

Paying off that last debt

That’s all for now! Be sure and report back!

Also, if you’re not already on the email list, make sure you sign up today. I send lots of goodies and tips.

Great topic, Matt! I’ve always heard of visualization and done it on occasion for a job interview, but I have not applied it to sessions with my clients. I’m interested to see how it works out this week. Thanks for the article and the reminder!